


On Tools and Friends

by xiwi01



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Post-Enies Lobby Arc, Robin helps him, Self Confidence Issues, usopp's got a problem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiwi01/pseuds/xiwi01
Summary: After leaving Water Seven, Usopp's been acting strange. Robin notices it and tries to help him.
Relationships: Nico Robin & Usopp
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	On Tools and Friends

Two days have passed since the Straw Hats left Water 7. The crew was acting as they always do: Zoro was sleeping on the deck, Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were playing hide-and-seek, Nami was in her chart room drawing maps, Franky was working on something in the docking system room, Sanji was cooking some snacks, and Robin was reading in her usual spot. _However, there is something out of place_ , Robin thought. She couldn't quite figure out what was exactly, but she knew there was something different. Years of searching for any subtle sign of betrayal had gave her the ability to tell these kind of things. _Maybe is that they aren't accustomed to the new ship?_ she thought. But it didn't seem to be that.

A few minutes later, she saw Usopp walking towards the galley, probably in order to get to his new workshop. Chopper, a bit disappointed for the fact that the game had ended, went to the infirmary to work on his medicines. Luffy decided to rest in the Sunny's head, at least for now. _So, it seems Usopp is the one_. Now that she thought about it, even if no one else noticed it, she was almost certain that Usopp had been slightly quieter since his return to the crew. He hadn't been telling the same amount of made up stories, and he had spent a considerably larger amount of time alone in his workshop. Robin let one of her sprouted eyes appear in Usopp's place, without changing her reading stance. She found him sitting on the workshop's floor, hammer in hand, not moving at all. Just frowning. Another minute passed, and he didn't seem to get out of his thoughts: the only movement she managed to see was his hand tightening his grip on his hammer's handle. She stood up from her chair, discretely went downstairs, and headed to Usopp's workshop. She entered, and waited for Usopp to acknowledge her presence, but he didn't. _Maybe too silent_ , she thought. She knew she could be deadly silent, and she usually was. Another unwanted habit.

"Is everything okay, Usopp?" she said calmly.

Usopp gasped at the sudden interruption, and turn his face towards Robin. After recovering for the shock of deadly-Nico-Robin-entering-silently-in-his-place, he wondered why she was there. Robin almost never bothered to get in his workshop, with the exception of calling him for dinner. She certainly wasn’t here for small talk, that was for sure.

"Yeah, I was working in...sharpshooter stuff, you know? Upgrades are always necessary" he answered. _Sharpshooter stuff? How lame. Robin won't buy it, dammit._ He always felt she could see through him, even with his greatest lie.

"Would you mind if I join you?" Robin asked.

"Not at all, but I don't think this is the better place to read, you know?" Usopp wanted to be alone, but he didn't want to sound rude.

"I'm not here to read anyway" Robin replied, taking a sit on the floor beside him. _She seems determined to stay_ Usopp thought.

"Oh...so what's the matter?" Usopp tried to pretend he was returning to his 'sharpshooter stuff'.

"You tell me. What is on your mind, Usopp?"

Robin decided to be straightforward to him. That seemed the best approach for someone like Usopp. He didn't need too much pressure to break. Besides, if usually she wasn't too fond into being oblique, now she just didn't feel like even making an effort.

"Wha...what do you mean? I'm fine" Usopp lied. Then, realizing her strange words, he asked. "And since when you call me by my name?" Usopp was getting a bit uncomfortable by now. The situation was weird, to say the least.

"I decided I should give it a try. Or do you prefer 'Long-nose-kun'?" Robin teased. Maybe she was being disrespectful with Usopp's privacy. Sometimes people wants to be alone. She knew that feeling all too well. But she felt this was the right thing to do, even at his expense.

"Not really..." He never liked the nickname, but Robin didn't need to know that. He knew she didn't mean to offend him.

"You don't like it, do you?" Robin had noticed the fact that he was uncomfortable with his given nickname. She hadn't thought too much about it, nor had a reason to change it. At least not until now.

"Yes...no...I mean..." Usopp hesitated a bit. Should he let her know that he indeed didn't like his nickname? Probably not, but the words came out anyway. "It's stupid. It doesn't matter".

"But it matters to you, am I right?" Robin looked him directly into his eyes. She knew his crewmate had self-esteem issues, and this was her chance to make him talk about it. "Why?"

 _Why?_ Usopp thought. It was a difficult question, with an equally difficult answer. "I don't know. I guess is the fact that everyone else was treated by his role in the crew" he answered. _Why am I saying this? I'll look like a crybaby_. "I told you, it's stupid." _I am stupid_ , Usopp thought.

"It is not" Robin replied, reassuring the sniper. "It’s completely normal to feel out of place if you don’t see your own value" she added.

"Is it?" Usopp mumbled.

 _Would Robin understand?_ he thought. HIs first instinct was trying to made up a lie to get off the uncomfortable situation. But Usopp did know that Robin wouldn’t buy it at all, and she didn’t seem to let him go easily. He decided to give it a try. At least she wasn’t there to see the embarrassing situation that led to his inner problem. And she was knowledgeable and experienced in life. Maybe she would know what to do.

"When I fought Luffy about the Merry, it felt like I was the one being left apart…I just wondered that if he could so easily leave a useless ship behind, it wouldn’t take long until he left a useless crewmate after all". Usopp’s words were filled with evident grief. Robin noticed he was struggling to go on, and decided to wait, staring at him with a strange look in her eyes.

"And then Franky caught me, and started crying about the situation, because, you know, it’s Franky. But even him thought I was being stupid, and throw me to the water to prove me that Merry was a goner…" Usopp started crying, still with a mix of anger and grief in his look.

Robin remained there, unsure on what to do. Comforting people wasn’t her thing, truly speaking. She only knew how to use other people’s vulnerabilities to destroy them, not to make them feel better. Even the fact that she was listening to Usopp’s vent with a degree of emotional involvement (she wanted him to be fine) was a strange situation to her. So she just leaned towards him, and gave him a hug, that came out less weirdly than expected. Usopp received the gesture, but with a hint of discomfort. He sobbed a few times before he went on.

"And even if he believed me when I told him about the voice I heard in Skypiea, I just felt like a fucking idiot, because I knew Merry couldn’t go on anymore. And it just got worse after the CP9 came and took us on the sea train…" Usopp gave Robin a brief look, and quickly turned away. However, Robin could see his embarrassment and shame clearly. He wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions, even if he thinks the contrary.

"When Nami called through the Den-Den Mushi, and told us the reason you were doing all that…I just felt like shit." Robin narrowed her eyes slightly, waiting for an explanation, but Usopp didn’t give one.

"How is that?" she asked, looking at him.

Robin’s serious and excruciating glance was in Usopp’s top five scariest things in the world, just a few steps below death. He had always felt like everyone was an open book to Robin when she intended to search something in a person. And he didn’t like that feeling, because behind his facade, the only things that remained in his soul were insecurities. He was sure that Robin could tell he was a useless, insecure liar. _Then, it doesn’t matter if I say it out loud_ , he thought.

Robin, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what was in Usopp’s mind. She knew he felt that his argument with Luffy had been a mistake, and that he probably felt insecure about his self-value. To what extent, she had no idea. _But if he said he thought Luffy, out of all people, was going to discard him, it must be serious. Even though I am not the most appropriate one to say it_.

"You know, you left the crew to save us all, even if it cost you your life. I left on a whim." Usopp’s face turned from sad to serious. _There, I said it_.

 _Oh, so he’s comparing situations_ , Robin thought. She knew that path wasn’t going to get Usopp anywhere, but she managed to stay silent while his crewmate put his thoughts in place.

"And when in Enies Lobby Sanji told me that I should do what others can’t do, I just didn’t understand what he meant. Until it suddenly came to me, and I start shooting from the Tower to where you were. And I felt happy, because I thought ‘even if I’m a coward, at least I managed to help a friend for once".

A subtle smile was now on Usopp’s lips. Robin felt rather startled that Usopp was comparing himself to her, of all people. She was an assassin, a demon, someone who nobody in 20 years dared to care for. Why was Usopp feeling inferior? Because he couldn’t remorselessly kill people like her? From her point of view, that was a good thing. Usopp is a good guy, with an enormous heart. Does he seriously think that being like her is better?

"But, you know, it’s like saying I was good at something for once." Usopp said, clenching his fists. "It’s fucking embarrassing. You were right when you told us you would be an asset to the crew, regardless of the assassination stuff. You’re knowledgable, smart, and a good fighter. You’re fucking awesome, and it is obvious that anyone would want you to be with them." He stated that as a fact.

 _That hit too close to home,_ Robin thought, feeling unease at Usopp’s comment. She wondered how an interesting thing it was, perception. The man had her in high regard, while she always thought she was better dead (and even now, it was difficult for her to think otherwise). In opposition, Robin would like to be a bit more like Usopp: warm, light-hearted and afraid of death. Instead, she was cold, her heart was sick with betrayal and murder, and her hands stained with blood.

"And then, you have me. You’re all _useful_ , but I’m a weakling coward. I’m just a _burden_ " he whispered.

At those words, something snapped inside Robin. _You’ve gone too far, Usopp_. She couldn’t stay silent anymore.

"I thought you would know better" she stated coldly.

 _But not with her usual coldness, no_ , Usopp thought, scared. _This is Robin’s I’m-about-to-kill-you-and-throw-your-dead-corpse-into-the-sea coldness_. Robin turned her head to look at him, and he made an effort to meet her eyes. Usopp had expected to find a variety of reactions in her eyes at this point: pity, compassion, amusement, calmness. But he never thought he would find anger. He felt a shiver running through his spine at the sight. _Oh shit, I screwed up_. Robin’s glance was too much to handle at this point, so he lowered his head and avoided looking at her. _Why did I made her angry?_ He tried his best to decipher what had been the mistake. Robin didn’t do any effort to help him, she just remained silent. _Silent and screaming bloody murder through her eyes_.

And Robin _was_ angry. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Usopp was making fun of her. _Of course people would like to have me in their crew? I’m useful? You feel like a burden?_ she thought. _What do you think I am? What do you think you are?_ Usopp’s words dug right into her own insecurities, and the fact that he was saying all of this in a superfluous way was unnerving. But the thing that really made her furious was the fact that Usopp was blatantly wrong, and he couldn’t realize he was. Dim-witted people, who used to take falsehoods for truths without a second thought were the kind of people that she, as a scholar, despised the most. And she knew his crewmate was far better than that, so yes, she was angry.

Usopp was still trying to understand in order to fix the mess, when it suddenly came to him. **If this goes on, no matter how kind you all are, you’ll eventually see me as a burden. You’ll end up betraying me and tossing me aside**. _Shit, shit, shit, that’s why, of course she’s mad, I’m an idiot. Robin is amazing, and still have been treated like a burden all her life. She’s a good fighter because she needed to survive, and her knowledge only had giving her misery. Fuck, fuck, fuck_.

"Robin, I’m sorry! I didn’t…I mean, I never…" Usopp started to mumble, but Robin just raised her hand, and made a gesture for Usopp to shut up. He complied immediately. Sighting in an effort to dismiss her anger, she started to talk.

"Utility and value, even if they often go together, are two different things. You can be useful without being valuable, and the same goes the other way around" Robin remained with her eyes closed, and her tone was matter-of-factly. "Even if you think my reason for leaving was better, you confronted Luffy for what you believed was right at the moment given, while I betrayed them and escape without giving him a proper explanation".

Usopp didn’t know if Robin truly believed what she was saying, but it did help him a bit.

"You say you’re a coward, but you are the only one who believes it. You are afraid of death and danger, I am not. I am afraid of the World Government, and you shot their flag without hesitation. You hid yourself behind a mask, but I do too. Almost everyone on this crew have things we don’t want to show others. That’s just normal." Her tone was still cold, but it was slowly turning into one a mother would use to reprimand her child.

Usopp was now shocked. Robin was, without a doubt, being serious. She was admitting her fears (even if they knew her relationship with the World Government, Robin wasn’t the kind of person to ever admit she was afraid of something). But the thing that impressed him the most was that she was talking out of respect. Something he could never guessed Nico Robin felt for him.

"And Sanji is right. You’re not good at fighting, a doctor, or a shipwright." _That hurt_ , Usopp thought. "So what? Zoro cannot navigate. Luffy doesn’t know anything about medicine. And even if I do know how to handle a gun, I’m only able to hit someone who is close enough to me. I would be being tortured or dead right now if you hadn’t been there to hit Spandam. You’re a sniper, Usopp, and you’re more skilled than many I have met before. Even the marines at the bridge were praising your aim." Robin’s expression was now a lot softer, even if she was keeping her mildly harsh tone.

Usopp at this point was starting to cry again, still focusing on what the smartest member of the crew had to say to him. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, her opinion on him mattered a lot. Man, probably only below Luffy’s.

"And finally, as I said before, utility does not define your value. We all were worried you wouldn’t come back. We all missed you at Water Seven. The crew wouldn’t be complete without you here" Robin gave him a warm smile. "Besides, if not you, who would entertain our Captain for more than three minutes straight? We wouldn’t last a day, end up with our ship destroyed, and our dismembered corpses scattered in a pool of blood at the bottom of the sea."

"DON’T SAY SUCH SCARY THINGS, ROBIN!" Usopp yelled.

And then, he just laughed. Robin laughed softly with him. Then she stood up to leave, but Usopp grabbed her wrist and pulled her to an embrace. Robin, surprised, stiffed at the contact for a few moments, while Usopp started talking again.

"Thank you, really" he said with a goofy smile on his face, and then added "You’re also part of this crew, you know? Next time, please believe in Luffy. It will save us from raiding another Government facility".

"I will" she answered, finally returning the hug, and this time leaving properly.

* * *

 _Don’t say such scary things, Robin!_ they heard Usopp shout from somewhere in the lower part of the ship.

"Geez, what did Robin say this time?" Nami wondered, a bit annoyed.

"Dunno. Don’t care" Zoro answered.

"I bet something like 'I hope we don’t get our dead bodies covered in blood'" Luffy said, trying to make his best impression.

"That sounded exactly like Robin! I wanna try too!" Chopper replied.

"You shit-heads, stop making fun of my beloved Robin-chan" Sanji interrupted, kicking Luffy’s head.

"Huh…there’s something I should know here?" asked Franky.

"Oh. Robin has a creepy sense of humor" answered Nami. "Sometimes she says morbid and disgusting stuff out of nowhere. Like really disgusting stuff. Try not to pay too much attention though" she finished.

"Says the one that freaks out the most" Zoro mocked with a smirk.

"You moss-head, what did you say to Nami-san?" Sanji shouted.

"You wanna fight, swirly?" Zoro answered, lifting his swords.

"Right…" Franky muttered.

Robin had heard the discussion through her sprouted ear in her way up towards the deck. She took a sit next to Nami, and opened her book. Usopp showed a few moments later, and started playing with Chopper and Luffy again. Things seemed to be back to normal. Robin smirked.

"Luffy was almost right" she said amused, without lifting her head from the book she was reading.

"About what?" Nami asked, confused.

"I said that without Usopp, our dismembered corpses would end up scattered in a pool of blood at the bottom of the sea" she said still looking at the pages, her voice loud enough only for Nami to hear.

"ROBIN!!!"


End file.
